


#Reylo - an analysis - or the fall of Keylo Ren

by Aviendha69



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Analysis, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-28
Updated: 2020-01-28
Packaged: 2021-02-27 07:15:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,138
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22443184
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aviendha69/pseuds/Aviendha69
Summary: This is a draft analysis, actually a test of this platform. Real Fanfic will follow
Relationships: Kylo Ren/Rey
Comments: 4
Kudos: 5





	#Reylo - an analysis - or the fall of Keylo Ren

**Author's Note:**

> This is a draft analysis, actually a test of this platform. Real Fanfic will follow

#Reylo - an analysis - or the fall of Keylo Ren - Google Docs

"Oh no, he's hot." That's exactly what I said when we very first see him. I knew right there and then.

Though a FinnRey romance would have been a very interesting story (too bad about that: it was outside the box) that thread is merely a distraction from the main plot: it IS Skywalker's story, and our vilain IS the son of Leia and Han: he must be redeemed. Kylo Ren removes his mask, and instead of a hard old man we see a boy. Choosing a male lead with such unconventional, but indisputable beauty: dark almond eyes, a big nose and ears, a delicate chin, full lips (often a sign of lust or gluttony, but here used for youth and sensitivity) framed in a lopsided, yet heart-shaped face brings him much closer to us: he is that ugly boy next door we laughed at and later regretted when he finally grew into a man. A Dark Prince if ever there was one.

Driver plays this uncommonly well: instead of towering over her, he tones down his dominance, wanting her to trust him. All the rest of the scene, the way he never touches her, the way he averts sexual creepiness - bringing it up, then immediately casting it aside, completely subverting audience expectations of the usual way such scenes play out - confirms it bit by bit. Kylo Ren may have known some girls but it doesn't interest him anymore. He may be a villain, but he is not depraved.

The probing begins: right from the start, she resists him. A battle of the will ensues, and though he tries to stay gentle, pretty soon he realises that the girl's resolve increases with his pressure and as he glimpses into some of her memories he suddenly discovers her inside his own head. She has crawled up this wire he created and rummaged through his memories and now has laid bare his soul like a child. The Inquisitor has been exposed. He snaps the wire, but is left shocked to his core she is every bit as strong as him. He runs to Snoke, tells her excitedly about the girl who resisted him. Trained, she could be an ally; she could be an ally for _him_. When he returns and she has escaped, he flies into a rage: he may have known some girls, but not like this one: she sees right through to the heart of him. And she is _good_.

When they meet again on starkiller base, the murder of his father has not free him. It weakens him even further. When he decides to pursue the trooper who betrayed him and the girl who escaped him, it is from a blind rage; and only by tapping into the pain of the double wound he has just sustained can he even push himself to fight. Adam Driver is fearless - he never poses, he never worries if he looks ridiculous or caricatural: he just is, an angry young man trying to drown his rage in blood. He dispatches the traitor Finn, then, attempts to retrieve his grandfather's light-saber. But she snatches it from him he snaps back into focus: what can she do ? He tests her, ever the scholar: he finds her worthy. He pushes her to the edge, locks sabers with her but pauses: '"You need a teacher, he offers. I can show you the ways of the Force."

Rey senses that he won (or can't) hurt her when she closes her eyes in the snow-scape fight. He just stares, blinking hard as he takes in the glorious beauty of her face in a moment of utter vulnerability he has probably never seen before.

When she comes back, she is feral. Though he puts up a fight, he is already beaten. When she finally throws him to the ground, bewildered and his face slashed open, he recognizes her: she is _The One_ he never knew he needed, and it throws him as surely as if he's fallen off the edge he had just pushed her to a moment ago. So many people rejected the pairing saying it was borne out of abuse. The struggle is real, but after he initially surprises her with that Force-hold he will never best her again. Rey is the stronger one of the two - and she has her own issues to deal with. She will always resist him.

In the second movie, though she has escaped him, the fates have not separated them. The initial probe has grown into a bond, then a portal. They both are forced - literally Forced - to communicate. Rey gives Kylo Ren a chance, and he blows it. This dynamic has been compared to the one depicted in _Pride and Prejudice_.

in the third movie, the conflict continues; both characters are exhausted by this conflict, especially because it it so personal. Near the end, Rey is forced to wound him mortally at some point, using his own saber, only saving him because she cannot kill Leia's son. He feels both women holding his soul to his body, and the amount of love and compassion he receives in that moment finally reaches through all the self-loathing and rage that he had made his armor from. Kylo Ren is dead; only Ben is left. And Ben can forgive him the murder of his father, Han Solo.

Unlike the "seducing" of Leia in a very traditional - for the time - alpha male way (an expectation that threw people off the scent), Ben gains her trust, some intimacy and a budding friendship, but can’t retain them and gets nothing more until he totally surrenders to her. A sacrifice she rewards him for, granting that kiss (the play of emotions, the uneasy "did I do right?" "yes you did" on the actors' faces is extraordinary ) and finally forgiveness and acceptance but it's too late and took too much out of him. He smiles back - such radiance! - and dies in peace. That hurt like hell. A Shakespearean twist that made it all very grand, but was not quite what I had brought my 12 year-old nephew for.

Rey defeats Palpatine without his help, where both our protagonists could have crossed the sabers together - avoiding a lot of heartbreak - but I guess her dying and being dead for an uncomfortable amount of time was necessary to avoid the possessing of the body by the real Villain, who could have chosen either if they had both killed him. It was an impossible situation.

Still, instead of fading away like a Jedi, JJ Abrams could have just sent him to some metaphorical Wall instead; an acceptable compromise.

I could go on like this for quite a while. And I will. I have started a fanfic. A dirty fanfic.


End file.
